End of Watch

“End of Watch” is a very gruesome and realistic view of what two LA police officers deal with on a daily basis. Patrolling the mean streets of Los Angeles is no joke and the LAPD put their lives on the line every single day to try and keep the good citizens of Los Angeles safe.
The movie is so realistic that at times I covered my face because what was being shown would make me ill.
“End of Watch” is very bloody, realistic, and gruesome and in its own way awesome because it’s not sugar- coated. It’s the real deal.
The on-screen chemistry between Gyllenhall and Pena is really good. The scenes with them in their squad car really gives you a great understanding of what police officers deal with while cruising the streets. With everything that goes on in “End of Watch” the movie is really good, but it loses steam at the end and that’s what will keep it from being a great movie.
If you can stand the bloodiness and the gruesome factor, “End of Watch” is worth seeing.

Future Movie Reviews in 2013 and Beyond

Here is a List of movies that I plan to see in the coming months. This list may change over time. It will be republished as needed.

The Amazing Spiderman 2 – Emma Stone, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Jamie Foxx, Andrew Garfield, Shailene Woodley

White House Down – Jamie Foxx, Channing Tatum, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Richard Jenkins, Joey King

Red 2 – Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Malkovich, Anthony Hopkins, Mary-Louise Parker

Last Vegas – Robert DeNiro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, Mary Steenburgen

Now You See Me – Morgan Freeman, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg

Baggage Claim – Taye Diggs, Paula Patton, Adam Brody, Tia Mowry-Hardrict, Djimon Hounsou, Christina Milian, Trey Songz

The Best Man 2 – Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan

Thor: The Dark World – Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, Tom Hiddleston, Zachary Levi, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Stan Lee

The Fast & The Furious 6 – Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriquez, Luke Evans, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson

Peeples – Kerry Washington, Craig Robinson, David Alan Grier, S. Epatha Merkerson, Melvin Van Peebles

Tyler Perry’s: Single Mom’s Club – Amy Smart, Tyler Perry, Terry Crews, Eddie Cibrian, Nia Long, William Levy

The Lone Ranger – Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson, Ruth Wilson, Barry Pepper

Killing Season – Robert DeNiro, John Travolta, Milo Ventimiglia, Elizabeth Olin

Man of Steel – Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, Amy Adams, Christopher Meloni

Bad Ass – Danny Trejo, Charles S. Dutton, Ron Perlman, Joyful Drake

Life Happens – Krysten Ritter, Kate Bosworth, Rachel Bilson, Geoff Stults

Brake – Stephen Dorff, Tom Berenger, Chyler Leigh, JR Bourne

Playing the Field – Jessica Biel, Judy Greer, Dennis Quaid, Gerard Butler, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Cogan’s Trade – Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Sam Shepard

Elysium – Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Alice Braga, Sharlto Copley, Talisa Soto, William Fichtner

Kane & Lynch – Bruce Willis, Jamie Foxx, Jon Lovitz

Soldiers of Fortune – Sean Bean, Christian Slater, Ving Rhames, Dominic Monaghan

Better Living Through Chemistry – Michelle Monaghan, Sam Rockwell, Jennifer Garner, Judi Dench

One in the Chamber – Dolph Lundgren, Billy Murray, Cuba Gooding Jr., Leo Gregory, Louis Mandylor

Man of Steel – Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Christopher Meloni, Julia Ormond

The Son of No One – Channing Tatum, Al Pacino, Ray Liotta, Katie Holmes, Brian Gilbert, Jake Cherry

6 Month Rule – Jaime Pressly, Martin Starr, Natalie Morales, Dave Foley, John Michael Higgins

Justice League – Common, Adam Brody, Megan Gale, Armie Hammer

Star Trek 2 – Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton, Yelchin

4Chosen – Laurence Fishburne, Rita Moreno, Billy Zane, Cybill Shepherd, Louis Gossett Jr, Danny Aiello, Ne-Yo

Trouble With the Curve

“Trouble With the Curve” is not Clint Eastwood’s best movie, but it’s not his worst. The movie is slow and a bit dry. If you are expecting a movie solely about Baseball, forget it!!
Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood) has been one of Baseball’s best scouts for many years. He has aged and his eye sight has deteriorated to the point that he can hardly see a pitcher pitching. Even when his bosses question his judgment, Gus refuses to quit.
Gus’s daughter (Amy Adams) is a high powered workaholic attorney living in another city. One of Gus’s bosses contacts her and asks her to come and see about her Dad. The story unfolds from there…
Often times slow and quiet, you are not sure where the movie is headed. There is more than one story going on in the movie. Gus Lobel’s (Clint Eastwood) grumpiness will wear you down, but there is a Father/Daughter story in this movie just trying to break free.
The acting and on screen chemistry between Eastwood and Adams is great and that is what makes the movie plausible.
“Trouble With the Curve” is passable as movie entertainment

The Words

Bradley Cooper plays Rory Jensen who perpetrates a writer. While on his honeymoon in Paris, his new bride (Zoe Saldana) purchases an old leather satchel for Rory as a gift. Hidden in one of the pockets of the satchel is an old manuscript.

Rory finds this manuscript and reworks the story a bit. It is then published and becomes a best seller. The original writer (Jeremy Irons) of the manuscript recognizes his tragedic story. He finds Rory and tells him the details of his story and Rory then realizes he made a HUGH mistake in publishing the manuscript as his own work. The story unfolds from there…

“The Words” is a very boring movie. There are a lot of heavy hitters in the movie, but none of them resconate on the big screen. The movie is disjointed and contains a lot of holes.

I found “The Words” to be a complete waste of money.

Lawless

Set in the 1930’s in Franklin County Virginia, “LawLess” is about the Bondurant Brothers (Forrest, Howard and Jack) who run a backwoods restaurant/general store. This backwoods store is a front for their real business which is bootlegging. They package up their booze and make their deliveries in the wee hours of the night.
The local sheriff and his men have take bribes and left the brother to their own devices. When a Chicago lawman (Guy Pearce) comes to town and tries to put the brothers out of business a war erupts. The story unfolds from there…

“Lawless” starts off boring and slow. The first 30 minutes will lull you to sleep, but all of a sudden the movie picks up and is like a run away freight train flying down a dirty track. The violence is gruesome and bloody. The movie is just “Ok”. It’s not as interesting as I had hoped given the cast. The dialog of the movie leaves something to be desired. At times it’s difficult to understand what is being said.

The paid critics were “luke warm” about “Lawless”, so am I!!!

Premium Rush

Bike Messenger Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) spends his day dodging pedestrians, cars, open car doors, buses, taxis and delivery trucks throughout New York City’s roadways as he makes “Premium Rush” deliveries. His last delivery of the day seems to be no big deal, just deliver an envelope to an address in China Town. What appears to be routine is anything but.

As part of Wilee’s job he is not to release his delivery until he gives it to the recipient. Wilee finds himself being chased by a NYPD Detective who wants the contents of the envelope that Wilee is carrying and he will do anything to get it. The story unfolds from there…

Kudos to “Premium Rush”! It’s a HUGH adrenaline rush, non-stop action and dare devil speeding bicycles traveling thru New York City!! You will get a “Rush” just watching the movie. The bikes in the movie appear to have no brakes. “Premium Rush” is a decent end-of-the-summer escapism. The movie was well put together and there is some intrigue, a bit of suspense and some surprises.

The paid critics gave “Premium Rush” high marks! It’s definitely worth a look.

The Expendables 2

The testostrone loaded, intense, action-packed mercenaries known as “The Expendables” are back!! They have increased the size of their group thus allowing them to take on assignments that require more of their special skills.

Mr Church (Bruce Willis) enlists Barney (Sylvester Stallone) and his crew “The Expendables” to take on what seems to be a very easy job of recovering a computer device that is locked in a safe aboard a plane that has crashed somewhere in China. “The Expendables” easily retrieve the computer device and were on their way to leaving the area, but unbeknownst to them they were followed to the plane crash site by a group known as the “Huns”. The story unfolds from there..

“The Expendables 2” is a blast!! It’s “Action Packed”, “In your face Bloody Violence” and “High Energy”. The movie opens with an involved action scene, followed by another and another until you get to the end where they saved the best for last.

Of Course the entire story is perposterous, but it’s fun anyway. There are some holes in the story and a few unfinished scenes. There is a lot of jumping around, but I am sure because of time this was necessary.

If you saw the first installment “The Expendables” in 2010, you will understand the jumping around. Sylvester Stallone is the screen writer on “The Expendables” movies he makes you assume some things to save time.

The paid critics were all over the map on this movie. I think as an “Action/Adventure” it should receive high marks

Sparkle

“Sparkle” can be thought of as the ending of a brillant career for actress/singer (Whitney Houston) and the beautiful beginning for another (Jordin Sparks).

American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks makes her acting debut in this adaptation of “Sparkle”. “Sparkle” is a singing prodigy who writes music constantly, but is afraid to sing solo in public. She resides in an affluent neighborhood in Detroit, raised by a single mother (Whitney Houston) along with her two sisters.

Sparkle tries to balance a budding romance with her music manager Stix (Derek Luke) while trying to adjust to the changes that come with her and her sisters (Carmen Ejogo, Tika Sumpter) as they embark on what could be a potential singing career and also trying to keep her mother happy. The story unfolds from there…

The camera loves Jordin Sparks. She looked great throughout the movie. Her acting is pretty good. It doesn’t hurt that she can sing. Whitney Houston has a very nice Gospel solo that will bring you to tears.

The paid critics were a bit luke-warm about “Sparkle”, but over all I thought the movie was pretty good, though there are a few holes and several loose ends were not tied up at the end.
If you are a Whitney Houston or Jordin Sparks fan then you should see “Sparkle”.

The Paid Critics gave this movie 2 1/2 stars. I Think it’s worth 3 stars.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green

A married couple (Cindy and Jim Green) were at the end of their rope trying to have a baby. They went through all of the normal Fertility tests and procedures, but nothing worked. Giving up in despair they return to their regular lives in Stanleyville (The Home of the Number 2 Pencil) where Jim works in the Pencil Factory and Cindy works at the Pencil Museum.

Trying to console one another Jim (Joel Edgerton) and Cindy (Jennifer Garner) open a bottle of wine and after some persuading on Jim’s part, gets Cindy to write down on little pieces of paper all of the characteristics they would hope their child would have. They then put the pieces of paper in a wooden box and bury it in their vegetable garden. They go to bed. During the night there is a violent thunder storm. Jim is awaken by a loud noise at the back door, after securing the back door, grabbing a drink from the milk bottle and returning to bed, Jim thinks he is snuggling up to Cindy, but she’s in the bathroom. The story unfolds from there…

“The Odd Life of Timothy Green” is a family friendly light-hearted movie. The movie is a bit cheesy and it just so happens that the couple’s last name is “Green”, but there is an entertainment factor here. This is a Disney production and there is a certain amount of “Magic” in the story.

The movie is relaxing. There is no anxiety in seeing this movie. I found parts of it to be funny in a good way. It’s not the best movie that Jennifer Garner has made, but it’s not the worst.

Drawbacks: Mild Mature Thematic Elements

This is a Dramatic Comedy Film, If you like this type of movie ENJOY”!!

The Paid Critics gave this movie 2 stars. I Think it’s worth 2 1/2 stars.

Hope Springs

“Hope Springs” is about a couple who has been married for over 30 years who’s marriage has fizzled out in the intimacy department. Kay (Meryl Streep) wants to spice things up.

Kay enrolls herself and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) into an intense week long marriage counseling session for couples. The couple travels to a place called “Hope Springs”. After arriving at the clinic Dr. Field (Steve Carell) spends time with them everyday trying to get them to open up about what’s wrong with their marriage. Arnold doesn’t think there is anything wrong, although there has been no intimacy in the relationship for over ten years and the couple sleep in separate bedrooms in their home. This continues at the hotel they are staying at. Kay sleeps in the bed and Arnold sleeps on the sofa. Dr. Field send the couple back to their hotel with home work (exercises) every day. The story unfolds from there…

“Hope Springs” is light-hearted, funny and hilarious!! Meryl Streep is her usual great self and Tommy Lee Jones is crazy funny as Arnold. “Hope Springs” is only for adults and should not be viewed by anyone under 17. Although you never see anyone nude, there are a lot discussions centered around sex and the details of sex and intimacy.

“Hope Springs” is definitely worth seeing.

Drawbacks: Sexuality and Mature Thematic Content